Into a Nightmare
by Vaya
Summary: Sequel to Minerva (anyone remember that?). Lennier and Pris need work to get off an ice planet, they are willing to take anything. Even something everyone else is too afraid to do. NOW FINISHED!
1. Jobless

Legal stuff: I don't own B5, and therefore am not JMS. Thank god.  
  
Spoilers: If you didn't watch the series dunce.  
  
Archive: only with my permission  
  
Feedback: God yes, feed my ego!  
  
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Lennier looked across the table to the young blonde, with increasing sympathy. She had given her name as Greer, Anne Greer, and she was looking to him and his companion as her last hope. She was appealing to them for help in finding her father who was lost up in the northern reaches of the planet, Alpha Pegasi 9.  
  
The planet was completely frozen over, an ice cube Pris had said. The colony was one of the first established, and was already falling apart. The government, already long corrupted, was thrown into chaos by the civil war. Unemployment ran rampant, along with it's usual symptoms: crime, hunger, homelessness.  
  
It was meant to be a stop-over, but unfortunately they had been unable to pay off the security to get onto the next transport, being flat broke and all. Now they were stuck, staying in a condemned dormitory with about a hundred other people with no other place to go, and had this morning been shooed out by security.  
  
Most of the colony was centered on the equator, which was the only place approaching warm, the northern and southern plains were considered off- limits to everyone, but scientists were taking advantage of the governments apathy to do geological surveys. It was dangerous, because there was no one to rescue them when things went wrong.  
  
Which is what had brought Greer to them.  
  
"I have a small transport pod, it's capable of making the trip but..." she looked down, as if embarrassed.  
  
Pris, who had been very quiet throughout the young lady's story, finished for her, "you can't fly it."  
  
Greer nodded, "I can fly it space through short distances, but not through atmosphere as intense as the northern territories. Can you?"  
  
Pris chewed on her lip, and Lennier knew that she was mulling it over, she wasn't sure. He spoke up, "I can fly it."  
  
Greer smiled brightly, "Oh good, I can pay you each 500 credits now, plus 500 when we get back."  
  
Pris' eyes widened, "Really," she looked suspicious. Lennier had to admit he found it puzzling as well, what was, as the human would say, 'the catch'?.  
  
"I know," said Anne, "it's a lot, but they mean a lot to me and no one else will help me."  
  
"Why not?" Lennier asked.  
  
She squirmed slightly, "I think they're afraid."  
  
"Of what?" Pris asked.  
  
"I don't know." Pris didn't seem convinced. "The weather's bad up there. Maybe it worries them."  
  
Pris still looked suspicious. She looked at Lennier, as if she felt it were up to him. He nodded his consent.  
  
"Great!" Anne said, "Thank you so much!" She reached into her bag and pulled out two cards. "Here's the first 500. You can get what you need, and I'll meet you at the sector three docks in two hours." she got up, but before she left she said, "I feel better already."  
  
Later, they were standing in a small market, getting some thermal clothes, food, and anything else they might need.  
  
"Did you believe her?" Pris asked while trying on some gloves.  
  
Lennier looked up at her, "About what?"  
  
"About people being afraid of the weather."  
  
He thought about it, "I find it very hard to believe that the people of this planet would be scared enough to pass up 1000 credits."  
  
Pris nodded slightly, gave her card over to the vendor, and then put her purchase in her bag. She was deep in thought, something was bothering her.  
  
"You think she was hiding something."  
  
She stared up into his eyes, "I know she was hiding something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't know," she chewed on her lip, "that's what's bothering me. However," she said with more confidence, "we need the money, get off this snowball."  
  
Lennier considered this for a moment. She was right, they were desperate to get out of here. He had briefly considered signaling the rangers, who tended to be patrolling everywhere now a days, but he had dismissed it. He was a traitor, there was no reason for them to come and help him.  
  
At least, he thought, he wasn't on his own anymore.  
  
TBC... 


	2. Frozen

Pris closed her eyes as the small ship was once again buffeted by a strong gust of wind. She had to admit, she wasn't much more experienced in flying through atmosphere than Greer. Especially through this weather. She glanced over to Lennier, who was sitting next to her at the controls, perfectly still and focused on what he was doing.  
  
She guessed that was part of his training as an acolyte, or whatever. Frankly she was starting to suspect that there was more to his story than he was letting on. The fact that he purposely avoided rangers was a dead give-away to something bad. Of course it wasn't her business, yet.  
  
Behind them sat Greer, who was gripping her seat with white knuckles. Oh yeah, she would not have made it. Pris also fancied the kid was looking a little green too. Great. As long as she waited before tossing her cookies.  
  
A sudden beep from her control panel demanded her attention. She looked down at it and read what it had to say.  
  
"Energy signal up ahead, about 40 kilometers, 6 degrees to the east," she turned to Greer, "is that them?"  
  
She opened her eyes, "Should be," she said a little shakily, and then closed her eyes, as if talking made her nauseous. Pris glanced at Lennier who was already shifting course.  
  
Pris looked ahead, "There," she said pointing ahead. There was a small cluster of buildings to the right, one large one and four or five smaller ones. On the large one was an antenna array. On the far side was a ship, slightly larger than theirs and seemingly better suited for the weather.  
  
Lennier circled around the complex once. There was no sign of life, but there weren't any signs of violence, at least from where they were. She looked back at her panel and scanned the place. There was power, no damage to the antenna, this looked less than promising.  
  
The ship landed next to the larger ship with a bit of a jolt. Pris pulled on cover for her head and a pair of goggles, made sure her gun was nice and accessible, and prepared to step outside.  
  
They already had on skin tight thermal suits which were light-grey, and fit over like a second skin in a rather unflattering way. Pris always thought she had a nice body, but in these clothes....even Lennier's well-built body looked faintly ridiculous. Unfortunately, these were the only worthwhile protection in this climate.  
  
There was also a tight hood which fit over the head. Pris once again, cursed herself for not cutting her hair as she stuffed a few stay curls under. Lennier fore swore the hoods, because there were none that would fit his head right, and he insisted he didn't need one.  
  
Pris hesitated before placing the oxygen mask on. She hated these things, and would rather gasp in the thin air than deal with having this on her face, but Greer insisted that she would suffocate without it, as the air this far north was too thin.  
  
Finally, she put on the goggles and was completely cut off from the outside air. Goddess, she hated this. She looked like a bug. Because they were unable to speak, they had to communicate by hand signals.  
  
The wind was biting cold and cut through her like a knife, thermal layers and all. She gritted her teeth and headed over to the other ship, walking at an angle against the wind.  
  
The ship looked undamaged, as far as she could see. She was about to head into the main building when something odd caught her eye. It was a puddle of fuel which was growing underneath it. She turned to Lennier, who'd seen it too, and they ducked under the ship to investigate.  
  
The underbelly of the ship had a giant tear running across it. Cables hung out like intestines and had long iced over. Pris went through all rationales she could think of for this, but none really stuck. She gave Lennier a very worried look, who returned it.  
  
Greer was already heading toward the main building, obviously unaware of their discovery. They rushed over to her and, through a series of hand gestures, told her she shouldn't rush it. Pris readied her gun as they opened the door and went in.  
  
TBC.... 


	3. Silence

The door slid opened into a converted airlock, presumably to account for the lack of oxygen outside. It was lit with a red light, which turned green when it was ok to take off their masks.  
  
Pris gratefully slid hers off, and took in a lungful of air. It was stale, artificial air always was, but it was still better than covering her face. She readied her pistol as the inner door opened into the main hallway.  
  
It was a long corridor, with a dull metal shine that most of these places had. Every ten meters there was a junction, each marked with a different letter, and the whole thing was about 50 meters.  
  
There was a tense silence hanging in the air. Pris looked over her shoulder to Lennier, who had a PPG drawn. She could see his breath, and realized that the corridor was cold. Not as cold as outside, but enough to suggest the heating was off.  
  
Lennier motioned to the floor, which she saw an impressively thick layer of dust. Like a tomb, she thought with a shudder.  
  
She looked up to Greer, who was visibly shaking and pale. Pris was hoping she could keep from fainting, at least until something worth fainting for actually happened.  
  
"Do you know where they could be?" she said, very, very quietly. For some reason, she was loathe to break the silence.  
  
Greer roused herself, "the mess hall?" she said, uncertainly.  
  
Pris moved quietly up to the first junction, which had a directory. Mess hall, junction C to the left. Okay...  
  
She followed these directions, moving very quietly, not even daring to breathe. She moved her head, very slightly, from side to side, trying to pick up any snatch of noise which could indicate life. At one point she turned to Lennier, thinking maybe his ears were somehow sharper and he'd heard something. He shook his head.  
  
A door on the left had the words "Mess Hall" in large red letters, which had faded with time. On the side of the door was a panel with the opening mechanism, which was flashing as if nothing was wrong.  
  
Pris took a deep breath, swallowed and pressed the button. The door slid open with a slight groan which barely pierced the silence.  
  
The ear-splitting scream which followed on the other hand... 


	4. Blood

Normally, Pris would've hit her for screaming like that. Apart from the shocking ring in her ears, it was very undignified and embarrassing.  
  
She would have, if her brain hadn't been so busy trying to make sense of the tableau before her.  
  
There were bodies, five she could see from the door, how many more she was sure she didn't want to know. Four of the five were strewn about the room, as if they had been tossed there like afterthoughts.  
  
The fifth was hanging from the ceiling girders, how Pris could not see, but she was sure it was unpleasant. Equally unpleasant was the impression that he eyes may be missing. Oh god.  
  
No. She didn't want to go in there. She didn't want to take a closer look. She just wanted to turn around and get the hell out of there.  
  
Unfortunately, the scientist in her was curious and wanted to see. Damn it.  
  
Lennier was standing behind her with a shaking, sobbing Greer in his arms. His eyes were asking her if she was going to be ok. Pris certainly hoped so.  
  
Taking a deep breath she turned back to the horrors of the mess hall. Very messy. She kicked herself mentally for the pun.  
  
She was overcome with relief when she saw that there were no other bodies in the room. This was quickly replaced with nausea, though, when she saw the state of the bodies actually in there.  
  
Aside from the poor bastard hanging from the ceiling, there were two other males and two females. They looked like dolls whose joints had been bent too far and snapped by a small child.  
  
There were also deep gashes on their faces and torsos. Dried blood was everywhere. Pris was glad that the heat was off, nothing like heat to add to the appeal of a corpse. Especially a messy one.  
  
She dared to move closer to the hanged man and saw he also had scratches on his face, mostly over his eyes, which actually were not there. Pris didn't want to look closer, her heart was pounding, her breath was thready and her vision was becoming bleary. She shut her eyes for a second, willing herself not to faint.  
  
Ok, she'd been brave long enough, she could leave with her dignity intact. She was slowly backing out, when she saw that one body was on her stomach. Pris did not want to know, but before she could stop herself, she was reaching forward to roll the dead woman over.  
  
The face had been torn off, leaving a bloody mess of flesh exposed.  
  
Her stomach lurched and she stumbled back. The room spun and she was sure she was about to fall over. She only hoped she wouldn't land on a body.  
  
She only made it halfway to the floor when Lennier caught her. Pris ended up half slumped in his arms. So much for dignity, at least she wasn't vomiting on him.  
  
He quickly pulled her out of the room and let her gently slide to the floor in the hallway outside. Pris took several deep breaths while he closed the door. Greer was on the opposite side, her head buried in her knees, shaking uncontrollable. Bully for her, she hadn't fainted.  
  
Lennier squatted down in front of her, "Are you all right?"  
  
She nodded, surprised at her own honesty. Once she got her voice under control, she spoke as calmly as she could.  
  
"How many people were here, altogether?"  
  
Lennier looked over to Greer, "She indicated that there was ten in all, including her father."  
  
"So that's another five we can expect."  
  
"You don't think they're alive."  
  
"Do you?"  
  
He bowed his head, "No," he looked up at her again, "what do you think did this?"  
  
Pris shrugged, "Maybe they got bored, went crazy, killed each other. It's happened before."  
  
Lennier looked very unconvinced, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Hey," she said, "until I see the giant, drooling monster, I refuse to believe on exists."  
  
"I suppose they could tear each other up like that." He still looked unconvinced.  
  
"It could happen," she said in a small voice. 


	5. Monster

Pris continued to stare at the directory long after she had figured out how to get to the operation center. She had felt that if she just stared at this, she wouldn't have to think about what she had just seen, and what very likely was still to come. She didn't know, she didn't want to know, she just wanted to go home.  
  
Except she didn't have one.  
  
Pris hugged herself and sighed in frustration. Bitch though she might, she had to admit, Greer was paying them, she was calling the shots (well rasping at this point) and she wanted to find out what had happened.  
  
To tell the truth, Pris was also curious to find out what had killed ten people beyond the middle of nowhere.  
  
Greer had been standing at the door to the mess hall, watching her. She didn't seem to want to rush this either, something for which Pris was thankful. It also seemed that she didn't want to just wait around, and eventually decided that it was better to get this over with.  
  
She came over to Pris, her arms folded, and said in a quiet voice, which was barely over a whisper, "I think he's going to be some time, maybe we should..." she left it hanging.  
  
Pris nodded, "Ok, let's be efficient. Sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get the hell out of here."  
  
Operations was in the wing opposite the one they were in, and wasn't far from the junction, so it was a short, tense walk over. Pris asked Greer what Lennier was doing, just to ease the tension. She knew what he was doing.  
  
"I think he's preparing them for burial. He um, was lining them up on the floor.."  
  
"Mm," Pris said thoughtfully, "we'll probably need to find some sheets to wrap them up in..." It was good to think about practical things, but her thoughts were cut short when they reached the door. Pris stared at it for a second, before taking a deep breath and opening it.... and let it out with relief when she saw it was empty. Thank the Goddess for small favors.  
  
It was a large, spacious room, filled with computer banks, monitors and pretty much everything one would expect to find in ops. In the center was a table with several rock samples on it, nothing fancy, just the usual kinds which geologists had studied since the dawn of time.  
  
As she entered the room, she saw a large window looking into the next one, which, if she judged by contextual clues, was Medical. There were emergency kits, medical supplies, and surgical tools....  
  
and the four bodies on the operating tables. Thankfully they were covered with sheets.  
  
Pris stared at them for a second before turning to Greer. "Tell Lennier we found four more." The girl nodded and quietly backed out of the room.  
  
Once she was gone, Pris went over to the computers and set about looking for the log. She did not notice Greer had come back and was staring into the next room at the bodies. She seemed to be debating something internally, while she tried to make conversation.  
  
"He's praying over them now."  
  
"Uh-humm" Pris was still not having luck finding it, and the computer was being very slow and stubborn about it. "He used to be an acolyte," she said distractedly.  
  
"Ah.." Greer mulled this over in her head, "How did you meet him?"  
  
"Huh?" Pris turned to her, "Oh, it's a long story." When this didn't seem to satisfy her she said, "I hired him to help translate a book I'd found." So it wasn't the whole truth, at least it was nothing but. She turned back to the computer to do battle with it again.  
  
"A book? You mean from a library?" Greer asked, confused.  
  
"No, I found it on a dig." Ah, records, that looked promising, she opened it. Sure enough, there was a file marked "Log". She was so pleased with herself that she didn't see Greer's reaction.  
  
"Are you an archeologist then?"  
  
"Un-hunh, I'm between jobs now." She opened the log, which seemed slow to respond, damn it. She tapped her foot in frustration.  
  
Pris didn't see Greer's panicked look. Nor did she see as the other woman left the room.  
  
Instead she continued her tapping until the frustration was too much and she turned to say something to Greer, who wasn't there.  
  
"Hey," she said. She looked into medical. No one here but us corpses.  
  
Stepping through the open door, she looked to see if Greer had stepped outside, but found it empty. Twisting her mouth in deep thought, she looked down and noticed footprints in the thick layer of dust which had accumulated on the floor. There were two sets coming from the junction, and another going back.  
  
Convenient.  
  
Pris followed Greer's footprints back to the junction, were they turned right, deeper into the complex. Looking up at the directory, Pris realized that she was heading to the living quarters. Maybe she was looking for something, maybe Pris should leave her to what she realized must be a difficult and trying time for her.  
  
On the other hand, they had nine dead bodies which had been torn up, and no culprit, so it probably wasn't a good idea for Greer to go wandering by herself. She'd understand.  
  
With her resolve in place, Pris set off to follow Greer's footprints. She had gone down two more junctions before they turned to the left. Pris checked the directory and saw that Dr. Greer's room had been here. The footprints went down to the end of the hall and then turned into the last doorway.  
  
Pris had just started down here when she heard the scream. Drawing her pistol she sprinted to the end of the corridor. She quickly pressed the button and stood ready to face whatever was on the other side.  
  
Greer was lying on the floor in a dead faint. That she had expected. What she hadn't counted on was the four-legged dog-like creature standing over her.  
  
It was bigger than a rotweiller, with a disproportionately large mouth and set of teeth which seemed to grin at her. It's glowing red eyes bellied this impression, and Pris felt like she was losing herself in them....only not in a good way. Set along it's spine were large spikes, about half a foot each, it's tail slithered behind it like a snake, and it moved around, cracking like a whip.  
  
The creature had turned it's full glare on her and was pawing the ground in a very worrying manner. She realized it was going to charge her and she slowly began to back away. She wasn't sure if her pistol would kill it, and she wasn't all that keen to put it to the test.  
  
It growled and gathered itself up.  
  
Pris swallowed.  
  
There was a soul-curdling howl, and it jumped toward her.  
  
She fired. 


	6. Decay

Lennier was finishing up wrapping the last body in sheets which Greer had brought him from the med-bay. Four more bodies, she had said. He sighed as he kneeled next to his charges and whispered a silent prayer.  
  
He cast his mind back to a time when death was still a new thing to him. There had been a lot of things that he didn't understand then, but weighed heavily on him now. He was sure Delenn would have something to say about faith and experience, but it sounded bitter now, just like anything she had said to him left a bitter taste in his mouth.  
  
He was shaken from his reverie by the sound of a shot, followed by several more. Drawing his PPG he was quickly on his feet and out the door. Jogging to the junction he tried to discern where the shot had come from. More shots rang out, further in the complex. He noticed the footprints and took off after them.  
  
There was another shot, and another, someone was going gun crazy. Obviously it was Pris, which worried him. She was a good shot, and very calm when using her pistol, so if she had to be firing like that...  
  
He rounded the corner and saw Pris was lying on the floor firing up into the creature, which was trying to maul her. There was blood, lots of it, and it wasn't clear who it belonged to.  
  
Lennier didn't want to think of it. He just concentrated on aiming, he had to hit it. Breathing very slowly, he fired.  
  
The shot hit the creature squarely on the shoulder and knocked it onto its side. Pris took the opportunity to scoot back to the wall where she hugged herself in tightly. Lennier noticed that there was quite a lot blood welling up from her forearms, but was relieved to see that the creature seemed worse off.  
  
It growled as it righted itself and turned to face it's new enemy. Snarling wildly, it charged him. Without a second's hesitation, he fired several shots.  
  
The dog got within a meter of him before slumping onto the grown with a grunt. It was a mess, and still alive as it twitched and whined. Lennier gave it one more shot in the head, and it was still.  
  
Once he was absolutely sure it wasn't playing dead as part of a clever ruse to make him drop his guard, he rushed over to Pris, who was still huddled against the wall.  
  
Her arm had quite an impressive tear in it, which was bleeding considerably. She was curled up in a ball and shaking slightly, so he couldn't see where else she was hurt.  
  
He placed his hand over hers and spoke as softly and reassuringly as he knew how, "Pris?"  
  
She stopped shaking, and looked up. Immediately she seemed in control. "You killed it!" She said with surprise, staring at the carcass "wow."  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
Pris looked back at him, "My arm is killing me," she looked worried, "how does it look?"  
  
"Not at it's best, we should bandage it up. Did it get you anywhere else?"  
  
She started to rise, and he had to help her keep steady. "I don't think so," she said with uncertainty.  
  
"Where's Greer?"  
  
Pris looked at him, slightly muddled, until her eyes widened, "She's in there," she said, pointing into the room, "I think she's dead!"  
  
Lennier left her leaning on the wall while he went to see if Greer was still alive. He found her lying on the floor, seemingly unharmed. Pressing his fingers on her neck, he was relieved to feel a faint flutter of pulse.  
  
"She's alive," he announced.  
  
****************************************  
  
Pris was sitting on one of the empty examination tables, fighting the urge to look at her arm. She really, really did not want to see how bad it was. The nasty beast had managed to sink it's claws in there, while it's teeth had gone for her collar bone. Luckily, her frantic shooting had kept it back long enough for her to be rescued.  
  
On the table next to her, Greer was looking very peaceful, having finally given over to fainting. She didn't seem to have a scratch on her. Great, Pris thought, I rescue her, I get mauled, I have to look undignified.  
  
Lennier placed a tray with bandages, antiseptic and the whole lot next to her. He pulled out a pair of scissors and began to cut the top of her suit off. She had a tank top on underneath, so she would least have her modesty.  
  
He began applying the stinging antiseptic, which caused her to flinch slightly. Wuss, she thought.  
  
"What happened?" he asked.  
  
"Well," she started, glad of any distraction from her throbbing arm, "she wandered away, I didn't notice at first cause I was trying to get the log up and running, so I didn't notice." She bit her lip at that, she probably should've been paying attention.  
  
When Lennier didn't say anything, she continued, "so I followed her down, and there she was, with that thing over her."  
  
He started wrapping up her arm, "That was Dr. Greer's room, wasn't it?"  
  
"Uh-hunh." Pris thought about it, "I just assumed she was looking for something personal."  
  
Lennier shook his head, doubtfully.  
  
"What?" She narrowed her eyes and smiled, "You getting all suspicious? You know that's my job."  
  
He finished up her bandages, and looked into her eyes, "She was scared, Pris, something killed these people, we didn't know what, she didn't have a gun." His look was deep with meaning.  
  
It dawned on Pris finally, "What could be worth wandering off into unknown danger for?" She let this slosh around in her mind for awhile. Very, very interesting, but it wasn't like they could ask her, being unconscious and all.  
  
Lennier looked through the window into operations and then went through the door. Pris slid off the table and followed him. They went to the computer screen where Pris had been struggling to call up the log.  
  
A little window was on the screen, declaring that the log was accessible. Lennier clicked on it and the first entry came up. It was in text, and wasn't really exciting, just a detail of the project, geologic survey, blah, blah. Pris recognized it all as rather routine.  
  
A little too routine after a while, she noticed. It looked to her that they were just repeating tests they had already done. Why?  
  
Next was personnel. First, project leader, Dr. Henry Greer, geologist, some stuff about his schooling and all that. Very impressive, but Pris was more interested in his picture.  
  
"Hey! I know him!" 


	7. chance

"Hey, I know him!"  
  
"Doctor Greer?" Lennier was puzzled, if she knew Dr. Greer, why hadn't she said something.  
  
She looked at him, "I know him," she said pointing at the picture, "his name ain't Greer though, it's Kynes. He taught Archeology on Mars, I went to some of his lectures."  
  
Lennier looked at the screen, very confused. The name said Greer, doctor of Xenogeology, biology and physics. No mention of archeology.  
  
"So if he's not Doctor Greer..." He left it hanging, there was a lot that could be attached to that.  
  
"Where is the real Greer?"  
  
Lennier nodded.  
  
"There's two possibilities," she said, "Either there was a Dr. Greer, who set this place up and is obviously long gone, and Dr. Kynes took his place, which means our friend here could be innocent, or in on it."  
  
"What's the other possibility?"  
  
"There never was a Doctor Greer, and Dr. Kynes bribed some officials to look the other way while he set up. Which means that she must be in on it"  
  
Lennier thought about it awhile, he couldn't understand why Anne would deceive them, or why Kynes would take the identity of someone else, just to do archeological research.  
  
"Cause beaurocrasy a bitch." Pris said, when he voiced his opinion, "an archeological find always gets a lot of attention from the government, especially on a waste hole like this. If Kyne's found something here, and advertised it, Earthgov would be here in a heartbeat, the locals would want their own cut, and the next thing he would know, he'd be up to his neck in red tape."  
  
She shook her head, "I'm betting Kynes took advantage of all the confusion after Clark got toppled to set this place up as a geological station, which are a dime a dozen here."  
  
Lennier thought about it, "I suppose that's possible, but what could be worth all the deception."  
  
Pris bit her lip, "Maybe, our friend Greer knows," she said meaningfully.  
  
It took him a minute to catch her meaning, "You think that's why she wandered off?"  
  
"I think we should check out Dr. Kynes' room...don't you?"  
  
*******************  
  
A few minutes later they were heading down the corridor, back to the room where Pris was attacked, after first making sure that Greer was safe behind a locked door.  
  
Lennier didn't know what they were expecting to find, if anything at all, but obviously the young lady had been willing to risk her life for...something. There was so many things about this which were unclear to him, and he felt like he needed guidance.  
  
Pris just felt like there was way to much cryptic crap in her life.  
  
They rounded the corner to find that the dog was already half-decomposed, with an unbelievable stench, which gagged the senses. Pris stumbled back slightly when it hit her nostrils.  
  
"Goddess!" She said with her sleeve over face.  
  
Lennier covered his face and bent down to take a closer look at the animal he'd shot less than an hour ago, but was now vanishing before their eyes.  
  
"I think it's accelerating, look."  
  
Pris saw that the flesh had begun to bubble, and a sickly green sludge was oozing out from under it. The process did seem to be speeding up, and before she knew it, the entire beast had been reduced to a puddle of goo, which steamed and bubbled, before settling down.  
  
"What is going on?" she said, lowering her hand and feeling that she had just reached her max, and knowing that Lennier didn't have a clue.  
  
He was looking down on it too, his face unreadable, as he reached out his hand for her to take, "Come on."  
  
She took his hand, instantly feeling better as she touched his solid warmth. It was strange, she thought, how simple touch has such power, and since it took her mind off the former hell hound, she pondered on that for awhile.  
  
As they stood in the doorway, though, she reluctantly pulled her hand back, in order to draw her pistol. She didn't know what they were expected to find, but it was always good to be ready.  
  
Paranoid? Hardly, just cautious.  
  
The room was comfortably furnished, or at least as comfortable as it could get. A cot sat pushed up against the wall, with the sheets all messed up, as if someone just didn't bother to fix them. There was a table, and a couple of nice chairs, all very typical.  
  
On the wall next to the cot was a small bookshelf, covered with old, musty books, which were hard to come by nowadays. Swanky. The rest of the room was covered with tech manuals, maps, rock samples and other stuff archeologists can't help but accumulate. Pris had a brief feeling of nostalgia, but it came packaged with a feeling of loss.  
  
In the very back of the room, was something strange. It was a curtain, which is very odd thing for someone to be hanging on his wall. It also shouldn't be billowing like that, should it?  
  
Very, very slowly Pris approached, and carefully pulled it back.... 


	8. chasm

The curtain had revealed a small enclave which contained a small alter, complete with candles, some old insence, and a bizarre statuette of a winged creature with tentacles, claws and jeweled eyes. It was almost ten centimeters, green and made of a stone she didn't immediately recognize, but was too busy staring at the eyeballs in front of it to make any sort of analysys.  
  
There were three sets, with congeled blood on the ganglia, all aranged around the statue. It wasn't in of itself so horrifying, just the perfect end to a perfect day.  
  
Pris closed her eyes and stepped back, taking several deep breathes. Lennier had come up behind her and was also staring at the little alter. He sighed, sounding rather tired, a feeling which she could sympathise with.  
  
After a few moments, she opened her eyes and decided to focus on the statue. It was, in all other respects, easily recogizable as a religious idol, or something of worship. The question was, of what? She didn't recognize it as human or any alien that she knew of. She asked Lennier, but he had no knowledge of it either.  
  
She looked around her, "Is there a diary in here anywhere?"  
  
"I have not seen one," he said.  
  
Pris bit her lip, and then went over to a simple dresser. She tested the drawers, pulling them out slowly, until she came to one that would not be pulled out all the way. Lennier looked at her curiously as she reached in and felt around until her eyes lightened up with discovery.  
  
There was a slight click, and she pulled out a diary.  
  
"How did you know?" Lennier asked, bewildered, and rather impressed.  
  
"Oh," she said, with a smile, "it's the kinda thing I would do."  
  
*****************************  
  
Pris sat down at a small table in operations, the effigy and the diary laid out before her. Lennier continued to work on the log problem, while Anne continued to work on being unconcious.  
  
She skimmed through it, picking up a few passages here and there, trying to piece together what happened.  
  
It seemed she was right, Doctor Greer was a cover for something else. He was the one who had, years ago, established this place for some geologic testing, involving ice and oxygen, and had vacated when he was done.  
  
He had, however, found a strange effigy, presumably the one sitting in front of her, and had taken it back to Mars to show a friend of his, Doctor Kynes. They had come up with a plan to avoid beaurocratic issues, which was mainely Doctor Kynes assuming the other's identity.  
  
A few bribes later, and he and his team were established here, continueing research to discover the effigy's origin.  
  
She thought she heard a small whisper, like sighing. She looked up to Lennier, who was sitting with his back to her.  
  
There was another whisper, and her eyes turned towards the effigy, which was staring blankly back at her. Pris rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling very tired.  
  
She tried to return her attention back to the diary, but her head and eyes felt to heavy. Next thing she knew, her head was resting on the table.  
  
Just a few minutes rest, that's all she needed... 


	9. Dreaming

Pris was walking down a long corridor, which seemed to be carved from stone. Along the walls were pictures of beings Pris had never seen before in all her years as an archeologist. Great monstrosities, which boggled the mind, defied dimension and logic, embracing the universe in unimaginable darkness.  
  
One caught her eye, and she moved to it, to get a closer look. It was the same as the effigy.  
  
She touched it, and a icy chill moved down her hand, into the very core of her being, causing her to step back quickly and hug herself.  
  
Once again, it came, that incomprehensible whispering she had heard before. It surrounded her, and seemed to rush by, like a cold wind.  
  
There was, she now noticed, a light far at the end of the tunnel. She stared at it and realized it was actually moving towards her, rushing on a wind to engulf her...  
  
Pris was standing in a white room, without dimensions, or at least that she could see. It was completely empty, and yet she felt there was something here, something watching her, waiting for something. It was highly unnerving.  
  
There was, she suddenly noticed, a slight whistling, coming from...well she couldn't tell, but it was getting louder. It quickly became a howling, like the wind outside, and soon it crescendoed into a roaring and didn't stop getting louder and louder.  
  
Pris covered her hands over her ears to keep the noise out, but it just kept coming until she thought her brain would just stop from sensory overload. She crouched down and curled herself into a ball. She screamed hoping to drown it out of her head.  
  
And then, it stopped.  
  
Slowly, she uncurled herself and stood up, shaking slightly. The room was unchanged, still white, dimensionless, only now it was foreboding and frightening. She hugged herself and looked around, listening for any sound.  
  
There was a sound behind her, rather like a sigh, she felt the breath on the back of her neck.  
  
She spun around and saw it....and the things it had to show her.... 


	10. Awakening

Lennier concluded after awhile that the log entries were simply being repeated over and over, in order to keep up the cover of being a purely geological survey. He closed it, and turned to see how Pris was doing, and saw that she had fallen asleep.  
  
He decided to let her rest awhile before waking her, and instead got up to look into the med bay and check on Greer, or whoever she was.  
  
She was starting to stir as he watched, and so he went through the door and waited for her to wake up fully. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked up him.  
  
"How are you feeling?" he asked, quietly.  
  
"Ok, I guess," she looked confused, "what happened?"  
  
"You do not remember?"  
  
She furrowed her brow, as if she was trying to remember, and then her eyes went wide and she sat up quickly.  
  
"Where is it?!" she cried, "That creature!"  
  
Lennier put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  
  
"It's dead," he said, calmly, "we killed it."  
  
She was still hyperventaliting, and it took her a few minutes to calm down.  
  
"What was it?" she said finally.  
  
"We haven't been able to find out," he then said slowly, "we are hoping to find out from Doctor Kynes' diary."  
  
She stopped breathing, and looked slowly up at him.  
  
"Yes," he said, "we know you were lying to us."  
  
Anne let out a whimpered sigh as she cast her eyes down, so she couldn't see his.  
  
"Now, perhaps it would be best for you to tell us all that you know."  
  
She looked up at him, and after a few moments nodded, but before she could speak, there was a scream from the next room.  
  
Lennier looked through the glass and saw that Pris had fallen or jumped from her chair, and was now in the corner, curled into a tight ball, sobbing and babbling loudly.  
  
He rushed out of the room and approached her carefully, quietly trying to reach her. She continued to babble, and seemed oblivious to her surroundings. He knelt down next to her and took her into his arms.  
  
She was icy cold to the touch, and shaking badly, but after a few seconds she seemed to warm and calm down. Eventually, she stopped babbling, and just went over to crying as she clung to him.  
  
To hell with dignity, Pris thought, as she became aware of what was going on, at least he was warm. Goddess was he warm. 


	11. knowledge

"My name is Anne Hudson, and I am a student of Doctor Kynes, in his class on Mars. He selected me and eight other students to come with him on this dig. We came here, set up to start work, and they sent me back, in case something went wrong and they had to be rescued, and they stayed here with the other ship."  
  
"Why did they send you?" Pris asked, "I mean, you were having trouble with the ship and all."  
  
Anne looked embarresed for a second, and then said, "Indeed, but I didn't want to stay here, guess I got cold feet. The weather was better when I made my trip back down, and I was hoping they wouldn't need to call me for help. But, as you know..."  
  
Lennier looked at Pris, who said nothing. She kept looking over to the effigy, which still hadn't moved or done anything threatening. She had declined to speak about the dream, claiming it to be indescribable, which on one level it was.  
  
He asked Anne, "When did you start getting calls for help?"  
  
"A few days ago, one of my classmates sent out a message that they needed help, and after that, there was nothing. It took me awhile to find anyone who would come out and help me get to them. There's talk in the colony of the wastelands being haunted or something."  
  
Pris looked back at her quickly, "Really?"  
  
Anne shrugged, "I only heard about it when I was looking for pilots, I assumed it was because they would not admit they didn't want to travel through rough weather."  
  
"What did the message asking for help say?" Lennier asked.  
  
"It wasn't very clear, only that they were afraid for their lives, and needed to get out of here. He didn't say why, and then there was nothing."  
  
"And that's all you know?" Pris asked.  
  
Anne nodded, "I'm sorry I had to lie to you, but Doctor Kynes told me not to tell anyone what was really going on up here."  
  
"I understand," Pris said with a nod. When Lennier looked at her, she shrugged, it wasn't all that unusual.  
  
"It seems," Lennier said with a sigh, "that the diary is the only clue we have. What did you find in it?"  
  
Pris had been staring at the effigy again, and turned slowly to him, "Not much, didn't get very far into it."  
  
She went over and picked it up, and then hesitated over the table, continueing to stare at the effigy. It's jeweled eyes seemed to stare in her, through her, into her very soul. She lost all awareness of time and space around her, the world washed away and all there was were those eyes.  
  
Then, she heard it again, whispering, like a million people all trying to talk at once, like a breeze rushing past her ears, until finally, one voice became distinct among the hubbub.  
  
It was deep and seemed to growl in her mind "Gahs na imp flagn, hagn pli nag flagn turok."  
  
She felt a rush of warmth fill her, and she felt safe, and loved and oddly content. The eyes drew her in and embraced her.  
  
A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her reverie and back to reality. Lennier was standing behind her, looking concerned.  
  
"Pris?" he asked, "are you alright?"  
  
She blinked, "Yeah, I'm ok," she said quickly, "What's the problem?"  
  
Lennier looked like he was going to ask her what was wrong, but then decided not to.  
  
"We think it would be best if we were to leave this place, go back to the colony and tell the authorities what happened."  
  
She nodded, slowly, and then looked back at the effigy.  
  
"What about this thing?"  
  
Anne spoke up, "I am taking it back to Mars, the university can study it there."  
  
Pris nodded, and looked back at it, her mind was made up. 


	12. truth

Lennier didn't know how he had come into darkness, but he rather suspected the blow to his head was at least partially responsible.  
  
Pris had attacked him, she had surprised him and knocked him out cold. As he had hit the floor and went under, he saw Pris attack Anne, going for her neck, but he was unable to help as the blackness took him.  
  
The implications of this were disturbing, as it was surprising that this should happen. What had happened to her?  
  
He thought of the idol, the effigy, and her nightmare, and the way she had stared at it. Did it have a mental influence then?  
  
His thoughts became lost as the darkness began to lighten, and recoalesqe into lights, and patterns, and soon into images, objects.  
  
He was in a room, a large room, it was huge, with high ceilings and walls that seemed far away, or maybe they were closer? Such were the dimensions of the place, nothing could be certain.  
  
It looked like a crumbling mess, great pillars which were holding the roof aloft seemed to be losing bits off their sides. Rubble covered the floor, and the walls were covered with faded pictures and murals.  
  
Lennier moved to one of the walls and tried to make out what the pictures were. They seemed to be depicting a battle, with a great monster at the head. It didn't take him long to recognize it, it was the same creature that the effigy depicted.  
  
He felt suddenly, that he wasn't alone. There was something else here, but it wasn't an evil presence, it wasn't something malicious, instead it felt comfortable, friendly and, oddly, familiar.  
  
"Marcus," he said, as he turned around, and saw, indeed, his long-gone friend.  
  
"In the flesh," said the ranger with a grin, "or perhaps I should say, in the spirit?"  
  
He started to chuckle, iliciting a slight, but sad smile from Lennier.  
  
"So!" he said in his usual cheery fashion, "you look better, not all shot up like the last time we chatted. How you been?"  
  
Lennier opened his mouth to speak, but it was difficult. After all, Marcus had been his friend, and had been dead for over a year, so it was strange that he be standing here now trying to make small talk.  
  
"Don't worry about," the human said with an idle wave of his hand, "we need to talk."  
  
He then grabbed Lennier by the arm and started leading him around the temple.  
  
"Bloody aweful mess you and your friend have stumbled on," he mused, "really unfortunate. But, at least here we have a chance of stopping it."  
  
"What is this place?" Lennier asked, "what happened here?"  
  
"Little place in your sub-concious maybe?"  
  
Lennier looked doubtful.  
  
"Ok," Marcus said, "this is a place in reality, it's several thousand feet below where you're lieing on the floor."  
  
He walked around about with Lennier following him, interested.  
  
"All this, is all that's left of an ancient civilization. One of the first ones, hell, even for them they were old!"  
  
They came to one of the murals, another one like the effigy, "Ugly brute ain't he? His name is unpronouncable in our tongue, but some of the old ones refered to him as Turaka, or Turok, depending on the race you're asking."  
  
"The race's name is unknown to this time, long forgotten in the annals of history. The other races tried to destroy them, fearing their great mental powers. They could control others, and were messing around with the younger races, making them worship and grovel at their feet. They altered several of them, simply by their will, to suit whatever need they had.  
  
When the others destroyed the homeworld, a few escaped to every corner of the galexy. A couple may have ended up on Earth, a few on Mars, all over the place. The Vorlons hunted them, wherever they went, and destroyed them, or imprisoned them if destruction was not possible, or neccessary. For some reason they let this one live, and simply sealed him in under the ice, in a chamber like this one."  
  
Lennier began to realize what had happened to Doctor Kynes and his team of scientists. They had disturbed it's sleep. Somehow, they woke it up.  
  
"What about the creature that attacked us?"  
  
"It's servent, it can make it out of living tissue of a willing deciple."  
  
"A willing deciple?" Lennier thought about this, until it hit him. They had only found nine bodies, there was still one missing.  
  
"Doctor Kynes," Marcus said, sensing his thoughts, "the effigy is a focal point of Turok's will, he was studying it, he slept near it. That's how Turok's power influences other's, in dreams."  
  
He waited while the implications of this to sink in. Lennier soon realized what he was driving at.  
  
"Pris!"  
  
Marcus shrugged, "It wants to replace it's servant, she's beginning the change already."  
  
"How do I stop it?"  
  
"I don't know if you can," Marcus said with regret, "you may have to kill her."  
  
"No," Lennier said quickly, shaking his head, "there has to be another way."  
  
Marcus looked at the picture, "You could destroy it, that may save her."  
  
"How?" Lennier was starting to feel desperate.  
  
Marcus looked like he was going to speak, but suddenly the room darkened, and a cold wind rushed in.  
  
"Oh dear," Marcus said quietly, "it looks like this conversation is over."  
  
"What is happening?"  
  
But Marcus was gone, the room was fading away, melting into nothingness. Darkness took him again, and he felt like he was falling into the void, losing himself as he went.  
  
Blackness surrounded him, consumed him, absorbed him, he was nothing now, no substance, no spirit, just a conciesness, floating in the abyss. Time seemed non-existent.  
  
Then there was a small point of light, infinitesimal in the blackness, but growing. Soon he was blinded by it as it drove away the darkness and engulfed him within it's glow. 


	13. inside

The light faded and became a room, which he couldn't see clearly. He blinked until his vision returned fully, and he saw he was in the med-bay.  
  
Further examination revealed that he was strapped to a table, as was Anne, who was on the next table, still unconcious.  
  
He raised his head as much as he could, and saw that at the side of the room, where the supplies were kept, Pris was working on something, with her back to him.  
  
"Pris," he said.  
  
She ignored him.  
  
"Pris," he said again, louder, "listen to me. There's something controlling you, you have to fight it."  
  
No responce.  
  
"Pris!"  
  
She finished whatever it was she was doing, and then turned around, bearing a tray of surgical instruments and several needles. Her eyes had gone completely black.  
  
Very calmly, without any trace of emotion, she walked over to him and placed the tray on a small table beside the bed. She then took out a pair of sciccors and proceeded to cut his thermal suit off, from the neck down to his waist, exposing his chest.  
  
"Pris, please," he was trying not to panic, but was finding it difficult, as it was becoming apparent what she meant to do to him.  
  
"Silence," she answered, except it wasn't her voice. It was deep and menacing, it seemed to be behind her, through her, but not her voice.  
  
It continued, "You are somehow resistant to the dreaming. Interesting. I remember your race, Minbari, they have advanced greatly it seems. Perhaps the Vorlons showed you how to resist us."  
  
She reached into the tray and pulled out a scalpel.  
  
"No matter, if that is the case then the Minbari will be destroyed. But first," she grinned maliciously, "let's see what you are made of, Minbari."  
  
Some time later, Lennier wasn't sure how much, she put returned the scalpel to it's tray, along with other bloody instruments.  
  
He looked up at her, bleary-eyed, feeling faint from blood loss. The front of her shirt was soaked with it. He didn't dare look down at his body, but prayed to Valen that he would soon pass out from the pain and blood loss.  
  
A slight whimper beside him grabbed his attention. Anne had woken up and was looking at his mutilated body, terrified.  
  
"Don't fret dear," Pris said, washing her hands at the sink, "I just want you for your mind."  
  
Lennier coughed, and was relieved to know that at least one of his lungs was intact. He looked over to Pris. Maybe Marcus had been right, maybe she was beyond help, then again, maybe was he too.  
  
He watched her move over to Anne with a large needle. The girl squirmed and tried to break free, but to no avail. She screamed as Pris put the needle right between her eyes. 


	14. whole

The black abyss stared back at him, as Lennier felt the life drain slowly from him. It didn't take long for the burning lights to fade and Anne's screaming to dull to a soft murmur, a hum, almost comforting in its tone and rhythm.  
  
Soon it all subsided to a thumping, a steady beat. Was it his heart? His blood dripping onto the floor?  
  
He found he was soon beyond caring, as oblivion crept onto him, in it's blissful silence.  
  
But it would not come, and he found himself growing heavy again, and aware of his body, and the pain, and the lights.  
  
He was infinitely disappointed when he realized he wasn't going to die now, and had more to go through first.  
  
"Lennier!" came a worried cry, "are you alright?!"  
  
He opened his eyes, and was greeted by first a throbbing pain, and a blurry image of Anne looking down on him.  
  
"What happened?" he asked, as his vision reassembled itself. He could barely see her, and was afraid there was something wrong with his vision, but then realized that it was because the lights were out, save but for the red glow of emergency lights. He also realized that he wasn't on the medical table, and that he hadn't been opened up. It had been a dream, a terrifyingly real dream, but a dream.  
  
"She went nuts! Pris knocked you out with the effigy and then tried to choke me! I tried to get free, but I passed out."  
  
She was on the verge of hysterics and tears as she continued, "and then I was on one of the medical tables and she was cutting you up, or at least that's what I thought, but..."  
  
Lennier sat up, trying to remember to take it easy so he didn't pass out or anything.  
  
"It wasn't real," he said quietly.  
  
Pris was attacking people, the thought caused a shudder to run down his spine. Marcus had something about the whatever it was controlling people, changing them to suit it's will. A cold shudder went down his spine, followed by resolve.  
  
Very slowly, and with Anne's help, he got up.  
  
"We have to find her," he said firmly.  
  
Anne raised her eyebrows and looked doubtful, "and do what when we find her?"  
  
Lennier shrugged, "Whatever we can."  
  
The corridor stretched out before them in oppressive silence, as they made their way back to the main junction. By now, the floor was riddled with footprints, making it hard to discern which way Pris may have gone.  
  
He looked around carefully, holding his PPG ready. He didn't want to have to fire on her, but he would, if nothing else to wing her. Anne followed him, shaking and looking around her like a trapped animal. On her shoulder was a small medical bag.  
  
Lennier studied the floor, trying to see if there was a new set of tracks, which would indicate where Pris was heading, but couldn't see anything new. He thought he could hear something.  
  
Anne watched him for a minute, before putting her hand on her hip and saying, "Well, now what?"  
  
He shushed her and listened. It was clear now, there was a rattling, a thumping, coming from down the hall to his left, back towards the front door.  
  
Anne stepped out into the junction and looked towards the noise, as it steadily became louder.  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"I don't know," he said, as he started slowly towards it.  
  
Anne hesitated a second, "Maybe it's something trying to get in," she said warily.  
  
"No," he said, "I think it's someone trying to get out." 


	15. Metal

As they approached the entranceway, the pounding became a clear ringing, as if someone was banging on the metal door. The emergency lighting this far down the hall had malfunctioned, and Lennier could make out a few shadows, but couldn't tell what they were.  
  
Anne reached into the bag and pulled out a small flashlight, which she then turned on to reveal what was ahead.  
  
The inner door on the air lock was lying on the floor, looking like it had been beaten down and then ripped off the hinges. It glistened slightly in the light, and it was because there was blood on it.  
  
In the air lock, banging on the outer door, which was already looking like it was about to give way, was Pris. Her knuckles were covered in blood, but she seemed oblivious to it as she continued to pound at the door.  
  
"Pris," Lennier said, trying to get her attention.  
  
She stopped her pounding, and turned her head towards his voice. At first he thought it might have been a trick of the light, but then he realized that her eyes were glowing a dull red.  
  
Anne drew her breath sharply when she saw it too. She looked up at him, wondering what to do next.  
  
Lennier put his PPG away and held up his hands, to show he wasn't armed, as he started to move slowly towards her. She turned around completely to face him, and he saw that the bandage had come off, revealing her skin beneath, which had turned a greenish-gray.  
  
Very, very slowly, he tentively stepped towards her, keeping his hands up to indicate that he meant no harm. He prayed that Anne wouldn't freeze up, and remembered what she had to do, and that Pris wouldn't notice.  
  
She kept her eyes on him, and took a defensive position as he came closer.  
  
He took another step. She didn't react.  
  
He stepped closer, not even daring to breathe, until he was inches from her.  
  
"Pris," he said quietly.  
  
For a moment, it seemed she was herself. The hard, wary expression she had been giving him melted away, and she lowered her defensive position.  
  
He reached forward and gently put his hand on her arm, and quickly realized that he had made a mistake. Her expression hardened, she grabbed his wrist and elbow, and threw him up against the wall.  
  
Lennier was stunned for a second, and had only an instant to avoid the fist, which came for his face. He ducked away moved back to reposition himself, and take notice of the significant dent left in the wall, which was considerable.  
  
Pris was strong, but she wasn't that strong, at least not normally. He was going to have to rethink this.  
  
She took another swipe at his face, and he leaned back to avoid her. He had now circled around her, and she had turned to face him, which meant that while his back was to the door and he had little room to maneuver, her back was to Anne, who was getting something out of the bag she'd been carrying.  
  
He continued to parry her almost casual swings, until she took a step back, and then threw herself into him, knocking him off his feet. They hit the ground hard, almost winding him.  
  
She was strattling his chest and had him effectively pinned as she straightened up and delivered two well-aimed punches at his chin.  
  
Lennier fought the ringing sensation in his ears and the pain spreading from his jaw, and blocked her next punch. She swiped his hand away easily and went for his throat.  
  
Her hands were soon crushing his windpipe and spots were forming before his eyes. He punched her square in the face, snapping back her head, but her grip didn't loosen.  
  
His vision was going blurry, and he was about to go under again, when suddenly her eyes went wide, she stopped and swung behind her, knocking Anne into the wall.  
  
The blonde slumped down the floor, as Pris got up to finish her off, but stumbled instead. She wobbled slightly, and looked confused, until she noticed the empty syringe, which had been knocked from Anne's hand, lying at her feet.  
  
Pris tried once more to lunge at Anne, but Lennier tripped her up and she fell into the wall, and didn't get back up.  
  
Anne had curled herself into a ball, and was now peering out at the unconscious woman.  
  
"Ok, now what?"  
  
"Now," he said, getting up, "I have to send a message." 


	16. devil

Ranger Findell stood on the bridge of his white star, staring down at the planet below, Alpha Pegasi 9, a desolate, lonely planet, rampant with crime and poverty.  
  
He thought of the people down there, living, dying, or somewhere in between, struggling to make it through each day...no, he mustn't dwell on such things. It saddened him to no end, but he couldn't dwell on things he couldn't change, not now anyways.  
  
Still, this wasn't the worst place in the universe to be, far away from anything else, it was a relatively quiet patrol.  
  
That is, until the communications officer approached him with a bow, and a problem.  
  
"Sir," he said in Minbari, "we are receiving a transmission from the planet below."  
  
"What kind of signal?"  
  
"I am not sure," he answered carefully, "I think it would be best for you to hear the message."  
  
Findell nodded, and sat at the consul to hear the message, which was being repeated over and over. His eyes widened when he heard it...  
  
Anne was loading the syringe with one of the bottles, and shaking her head, muttering, "I don't like it, this is a bad idea."  
  
Lennier rolled up his sleeve and sat down on one of the examination tables. On the one next to him, Pris was still unconscious and strapped down. Her skin was starting to turn a sickly, greyish-green and tough. She was changing into a creature like the one that had attacked them and had been, until recently, a doctor Kynes.  
  
"This maybe our only chance of reaching her," he said.  
  
"Or we could end up losing you in the same way," she pointed out.  
  
"That is definitely a possibility," he said, "however, I feel it is worth the risk. Besides, if I should fail, we have a failsafe," he looked at her pointedly, "you know what to do?"  
  
She nodded nervously, "yeah, I know," and then she looked guilty, "look, I am sorry I got you both into this."  
  
He stared at her for a moment before answering, "There is no need for apology, you did not know of this."  
  
She nodded, and then injected him with the needle. He then lay back and stared at Pris, and then back to the idol sitting between them...  
  
The room was dark, save for a circle of light surrounding him. There was also a slight clicking, all around him, a whispering, a barely audible muttering beyond the range of his hearing.  
  
"Who's there?" he asked loudly.  
  
The whispering became louder briefly, and then softened again quickly. He couldn't discern a language, or anything really.  
  
Then it stopped, there was no sound, nothing. He tried to move his head so he could see anything, but the room was too dark to see much of anything.  
  
He saw it then, a shadow, in the darkness, just beyond his circle of light. He couldn't give it a size or distinct shape, but it was there, hovering near him.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
  
A voice growled in return, "Many things," it whispered. A chill went through Lennier's body as it spoke.  
  
"I am older than old, greater than the pathetic 'First Ones' who denied me and my kind. They feared us, hunted us, and destroyed my brethren. Now I awaken and find that they are gone, they have abandoned their children, gone beyond your reach. Now I will have dominion, I will awaken my surviving family, and we will feed off the lesser races, and be what we were always meant to be...their gods."  
  
It moved closer, hovering inches from Lennier's face, but he still couldn't see it clearly, and was probably the better for it. It's breath was cold and sickly, and when it touched him he felt as if death itself was standing next to him.  
  
"You," it said, touching him with a ghostly hand, sending near convulsions down his spine, "you are interesting. Betrayer."  
  
He couldn't see it, but he could feel that it was grinning.  
  
"I have looked into many minds, full of petty desires and passions. You are different, you have a good mind, one full of knowledge and potential. I could use you."  
  
"No!" Lennier managed to exclaim.  
  
"But I can make everything better, I can give you your old position, by her side, everything the way it was before he came along."  
  
"It's all a lie."  
  
"Isn't everything a lie? What I offer you is a better lie than what you have now. How long before Pris abandons you too? When she's found out what you did, do you really think she will stay? You are a betrayer, you tried to murder someone you owed allegiance to."  
  
The light around him grew, slowly illuminating the other being. It was cloaked in flowing black robes and a large hood, which obscured its face.  
  
"Your betrayal, your guilt, it feeds me, like honey after a long famine. Much sweeter than Pris' distrust and regret, more than that fool Kyne's ambition, and more than the girl's fear."  
  
A hand came from its cloak and wrapped itself around his neck. He felt the warmth drain from his body the second it touched his skin.  
  
It moved closer to him, it's mouth close to his ear, and is whispered, but instead of a cold whisper, it was Pris' voice.  
  
"I know why you came here, you want her free, back whole and free. I am willing to make a trade."  
  
Lennier swallowed hard, his heart was pounding against his ribs. Fear welled up in him, and though he tried to push it back down, he still felt its grip.  
  
It chuckled softly and pulled back, releasing its grip. The cowl had fallen back to reveal Pris' face, her eyes blackened cavernous pits, and her lips curled in a cruel smile.  
  
"Give me your body," it said, still in her voice, "become my servant, and I will let her and the other one go free."  
  
Lennier stared back into its eyes, and felt the fear melt away slowly. He was now determined.  
  
"Agreed," he said. 


	17. warmth

Pris had been so cold, knowing that her body was being used, her mind being taken over, and she couldn't stop it. She found this very terrifying, not to mention frustrating. After all, her mind was one of her favorite things in the universe, and she had felt it was strong. Now, to be bowled over by an old statue and a crusty old god just made her very angry, not to mention scared.  
  
She felt the oppressive nature of the thing which had invaded her so easily, weighing her down.  
  
Then, suddenly, she felt it lift, as if it was vacating her.  
  
She opened her eyes, and found herself standing in a circle of light. Her head was resting against someone's shoulder, someone whose arms were wrapped around her. It didn't take her long to figure out who it was, or what was happening.  
  
"Lennier?" she managed to get out.  
  
He drew in a shuddered breath.  
  
She felt her heart leap into her throat, "what have you done?!" she choked, even though she knew the answer.  
  
"I am sorry, Pris," he said with a sigh, before everything went white.  
  
Slowly, she regained conciseness, and her eyes slowly opened to reveal she was in the med lab.  
  
Pris tried to move, but found she was strapped to the table, with a near hysterical girl waving her own gun in her face.  
  
"Show me your eyes!" she was shouting.  
  
"What?" she said, blinking.  
  
"Show me your God-damned eyes!"  
  
Pris widened her eyes, so Anne could see them clearly. The girl seemed to relax a little, but didn't drop the gun. Instead she moved forward slowly and looked at Pris' skin, which was now normal again.  
  
"Ok," she said, relieved, as she lowered the gun.  
  
Pris waited a second before saying, "So, you gonna let me loose?"  
  
"What? Oh!" Anne jumped forward and started undoing her bonds, "sorry."  
  
Pris got up once she was free, and then noticed Lennier lying on the table next to her.  
  
"Oh god no," she whispered.  
  
And then they both noticed, the effigy was starting to glow and pulse.  
  
Lennier felt life being taken from him slowly as Turok, or whatever it was, took him over. He was surrounded by it, in it, filled with its cold.  
  
"Yeses," it said, "you are full of life, sadness, pain, regret and what's more, you are willing. I feel rejuvenated. You have all I need and more."  
  
He shuddered, and felt despair welling up in his heart. But it was right, he was willing.  
  
"Pris," Anne said urgently, trying to get Pris to follow her "we have to go, it's what he wants."  
  
She didn't move, but continued to stare at Lennier. He had given himself up for her, completely. Not just death, but completely.  
  
She couldn't help but feel a little unworthy.  
  
Then she looked at that damned effigy, pulsing with light, his light, she thought.  
  
Anne stood behind her, "Pris," she said gently, "we can't help him."  
  
She drew her pistol and pointed it at the idol, "Bullshit," she said as she blew it to pieces. 


	18. escape

There was a sudden jolt and it drew back from him, in pain and anguish. Its grip on him was gone and it withdrew from his presence.  
  
Lennier fell to his knees, and felt warmth and life filling him again. He felt himself waking up...  
  
Pris watched him as he slowly regained consciousness.  
  
"Are you ok?" she asked.  
  
He slowly sat up, and rubbed his head, noticing the pieces of the effigy lying all over the floor.  
  
"Yes," he said, "But how-"  
  
She punched him in the face.  
  
"Idiot," she said.  
  
He rubbed his face, "Sorry," he said.  
  
"Well," she said with a smile, "as long as you know you were wrong," then she added, "thanks."  
  
"Course I have to ask," she said, looking at the effigy's remains, "why you didn't destroy it in the first place."  
  
"Well," said Anne, "it was all part of his plan."  
  
Pris raised her eyebrow questioningly.  
  
That's when the ground started shaking.  
  
"W-What the fu-?!" Pris stumbled around as the ground shook and finally stabilized herself by leaning on the bed.  
  
"It's awake," Lennier said.  
  
"Well it sounds pissed."  
  
He grabbed Pris and headed off out the door and down the hall, with Anne coming up behind them. They stumbled and slid and couldn't seem to keep their footing, but they kept moving til they got to the door.  
  
"Wait!" Pris cried as she started fumbling with her mask and head gear. Lennier stopped short of the door and waited for her and Anne to get ready.  
  
There was a terrific and unnatural roar from somewhere deep below them. It sent a chill up through Pris' spine and she hurried to get her oxygen mask and goggles on.  
  
The door flew open and they stumbled outside into the cold, which bit at her through her clothes. She couldn't see and was hanging on for dear life to Lennier's hand, while Anne hung onto her's.  
  
Another roar came, only this sounded closer to her, to the surface. The ground heaved violently and she lost her footing and her grip on Lennier's hand. She and Anne fell back and rolled, tangling in each other's limbs.  
  
She landed heavily on her back and was blinded to everything, she had lost her goggles. There was nothing but white, and the roaring, was it the wind? Or something else?  
  
Pris rolled onto her hands and knees and felt around for anything, especially her goggles. She couldn't find them.  
  
The cold was starting to seep in through her clothes, and she was afraid of blacking out. She fought the urge to stand up and start walking; knowing that wandering further away would not be helpful.  
  
Something gripped her leg. Anne? She reached out to touch it, and it pulled back on her violently.  
  
She clawed at the ground, but whatever it was pulling her back, to where, she still couldn't see.  
  
Then something grabbed one of her hands. She squirmed violently trying to break free, not wanting to be pulled in two directions, until she realized it was Anne.  
  
They both struggled against whatever it was that was pulling Pris back, but soon they both were sliding along the ice towards who knew where.  
  
A shot rang out over her head and she was free. She felt someone was picking her up and leading her away. Still blind, disorientated, she did not know what was going on.  
  
There was as sudden burst of warmth and she fell heavily onto a metal surface. She opened her eyes and found that she was on the ship they came in on. Lennier was hovering over her, and Anne was slouched against the wall, gasping.  
  
Pris gratefully pulled off her oxygen mask and gasped for air, and finally asked, "What was that?!"  
  
"I am not sure," he answered, as he started prepping the ship, "but I suggest that we are not here to find out."  
  
"Could've been him," Anne said, between gasps, "he's trying to break surface."  
  
A shadow passed quickly over them, but Pris didn't see it clearly.  
  
"What the hell was that?"  
  
Lennier didn't answer, but she swore there was the beginnings of a knowing smile.  
  
Ranger Findell looked out at the frozen wastelands flying beneath him. He spared a passing thought of the tiny ship that sped away back towards the colony, making a small mental tic.  
  
He was more concerned with the rather large and indescribable life form that was being detected ahead, breaking through the ice.  
  
"Do we have a clear shot?" he asked the weapons officer in Minbari.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Than destroy that thing before it can break free."  
  
The creature, which the humans had dubbed Turok, but whose real name was unpronounceable to most tongues, felt the cold chill of free air on him. Those mortals had managed to break free and destroy his idol, but it was no matter, he had absorbed enough energy to break free.  
  
He reached for the surface and his vision spread far and wide across the horizon, he saw the whole planet, the people, the fear, the despair, perfect for him.  
  
This time, though, there were no first ones to stop him, or his kind. They were free to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting universe.  
  
There was a ship speeding towards him, it was small and miniscule, and easy kill for him...Although the guns on it did look oddly fami-  
  
Next, the conclusion... 


	19. freedom

Alpha Pegasi 9 was a wasteland, a place of poverty, of hopelessness and, until very recently, boredom. The large explosion to the north was about the most exciting thing that had happened in the last couple of years.  
  
There were rumors flying all over the colony, that a white star, one of the fabled ranger ships, had come and destroyed a complex to the north. Why, no one seemed to know. All records showed that the place had been empty when it had been destroyed; no one was supposed to be conducting research when it happened.  
  
The ship had then returned to orbit, as if it was waiting for something, but what no one could say.  
  
No one, that is, except the young Minbari named Lennier. They were waiting for him, they had to be. He hadn't tried to hide who was sending the message, and he was fairly sure that they wanted to take him back home, for whatever fate awaited him there.  
  
Pris noticed the intense silence that had descended upon him after the bizarre ship, which she had never seen, but had heard described as a White Star, destroyed the creature and departed.  
  
Anne was happy to have gotten away with her life, and was ready to go back to the university with news of the professor's demise. She did not, however, intend to tell them about his descent into madness, and his service to the creature.  
  
After she booked herself a flight that would, eventually, take her back to Mars, she gave Pris and Lennier her ship.  
  
"It's good in atmo, as you have seen, but it's also capable of short journeys through space, it's the least I can do for you."  
  
She gave them everything they needed for the ship, plus the 500 credits she had promised them earlier, and left.  
  
They gathered everything they needed for a trip to...well, wherever. As they took off and left the atmosphere, Pris once again, asked him where he thought they should head. He didn't answer her at first, but instead set an intercept course for the white star, which was still hanging in orbit.  
  
She stared at him for several seconds, trying to decipher anything from his expression, but got nothing. Still, ideas were forming in her head, she was beginning to understand, or so she assumed, what was going on.  
  
"Ok," she said finally, "you have no intention of going any further do you?"  
  
He didn't answer, but continued to stare ahead.  
  
"I don't know what you did, Lennier, but, and correct me if I am wrong, you are about to turn yourself in."  
  
He still didn't answer, but there was a slight twitch as she spoke.  
  
"Dammit," she said, looking ahead, "so, this is it then? You're just going to leave me here? I knew something like this was going-"  
  
"You'd be better off," he said quietly.  
  
She stared at him for a moment. "Would I?" she said, tersely.  
  
"Pris," he said with a sigh, "if I don't turn myself in, I can't go home, and I have to avoid the rangers. It would not be right of me to ask the same of you."  
  
"What did you do?" she asked quietly, knowing she had no right to.  
  
"I tried to kill someone," he answered, quietly.  
  
"Ah," she said with a nod, and then after a moment, "Is that all?"  
  
He looked at her, plaintively.  
  
"Must've been someone important," she continued.  
  
"Still is," he said.  
  
"Strange," she said, looking back at the white star, "they don't seem to be all jazzed up to bring you in."  
  
He looked over to the ship, and saw that she was right, it wasn't moving to intercept, or anything, but it was hailing them.  
  
Lennier opened communications, and a voice said, in Minbari, "Hello, my friend."  
  
"Findell?" he asked, in almost disbelief, he hadn't expected to hear his voice again.  
  
"I am happy you still recognize me."  
  
"I suppose you wish to take me back to Minbari Prime."  
  
"Why would I want to do that?"  
  
Lennier stopped for a second in surprise. Pris had no clue what was going on, seeing how the entire conversation had been in Minbari, but by Lennier's surprised expression, she was sure it was interesting.  
  
"I don't understand Findell, I thought the rangers were looking for me."  
  
There was a pause before Findell answered. He said, "I know that something happened which led to you leaving us, Lennier, but as to what it was I do not know. Delenn has expressed a wish to see you, but that is your choice. I just wished to send you my regards."  
  
Lennier was speechless; this was not what he had expected at all.  
  
"Thank you Findell," he said, and the communications closed.  
  
Pris raised an eyebrow, "So," she asked quietly, "is this where we part ways?"  
  
"No," he said, looking at her, "is isn't."  
  
Lennier watched quietly as the white star turned and jumped away. He continued to stare long after the gate closed and there was nothing but empty space. Finally he set a course for the local jump gate...and wherever it would take him.  
  
The End... 


End file.
